Philosophers and saints from time immemorial have asked questions about the purpose and meaning of life. Countless tomes have been written exploring this intriguing, even mystical subject. Coming to recent times Clay Christensen, renowned Harvard Business school professor, researcher and author of several bestselling books on innovation has asked: How will you measure your life?
He posed this question to a management class comprising high achievers at Harvard Business School, arguably the best business school in the world. Could this be a question for mere rhetoric effect? Not really. Clay Christensen, ranked number one management thinker by Thinkers 50, advises leading organisations on disruptive innovation.
Business schools broadly teach principles of general management in the first phase of an MBA programme and the second half is devoted to specialisation with a focus on functional aspects such as sales and marketing, finance, human resources and operations management. This inquiry transcends the typical business school curriculum.
Earlier, the focus of business school education was to equip future managers with skills to earn revenue to benefit the company’s shareholders. This sole focus on profit maximisation has resulted in many undesired consequences; Enron and Worldcom are just a few visible examples of such a blinkered approach.
Visionary organisations
The corporate world is seeing earnest attempts to bring in positive changes and make organisational goals more inclusive. Visionary organisations now increasingly focus on triple bottom line (3BL) which includes people, planet and profit. Note profit comes third among these three pillars of sustainability.
Going back to Clay Christensen’s question, now we see the pertinence and significance of measuring life. To seek an answer, future managers need to think about the key sub-question of ‘how can I be happy in my career’.
There are many instances of top rankers in business schools rejecting high paying job offers from investment banks or consulting firms and deciding to work with a development agency / non-governmental organisation. The drive for such decision making is to find a purpose and meaning in their career and truly contribute towards a cause.
MBA graduates are also joining the civil services or the Defence services at a fraction of the salary offered by the private sector. The motivation here is to play their part in nation-building efforts. Job satisfaction is not always about power and pay. In the face of performing day-upon-day a set of tasks towards achieving a transactional goal, how enriching it is makes a vital contribution in building a safe and secure world for the future generations.
Rich rewards
I recall reading an interview of a professional who opted to work with poor young people as against a job in a private equity firm. According to him, striking deals could fetch momentary pride and sense of achievement. But building people yields deep rewards that can enhance one’s sense of self worth. I am not here to recommend a pronounced abandonment of corporate ambitions to become a social worker. Management practised well is, in itself, a noble profession.
There are very few professions other than management that offer opportunities for learning and growth. A management position offers innumerable opportunities to take on more responsibilities towards helping and developing people.
A good example is the story of Verghese Kurien, popularly called the “milkman of India”. A renowned social entrepreneur, he expertly deployed his managerial skills to the betterment of thousands of people and created a White Revolution that transformed India from a milk-deficit country to the world’s largest milk producer, surpassing even the United States.
Social impact
Muhammad Yunus is another fine example of the excellent use of managerial skills for the greater good of society. The Grameen Bank he founded to deliver credit services to the rural poor resulted in tremendous social impact, serving as a model for the micro-finance industry. Muhammad Yunus won several accolades including the prestigious Nobel Prize. Both Kurien and Muhammad Yunus early in their careers made clear choices on where they would like to allocate their time and personal energy.
Business strategy is thus all about making clear choices and allocating resources. It is imperative for every individual to have a strategy for life and make choices on where to spend one’s time, talent and energy.
Purpose, meaning
Mitch Albom in his book Tuesdays with Morrie, shares his favourite professor’s quote: The way you get meaning in your life is to devote yourself to loving others, to your community around you, and to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
It may be neither simple nor easy for an individual initially to have a very clear idea about the purpose of life and career, but it is important to develop this orientation and attitude at the earliest. In the long run this inquiry and constant search is much more valuable than all the training and knowledge about activity-based costing or balance scorecard or, for that matter, the 4 Ps of marketing.
The ultimate question is: Would you want to measure your life by your age, assets or achievements? Or would you want to measure it by the meaningful and useful contributions you have made?